“Are you regretting your commitment to not attack fellow Republicans in kind at this point?” Obradovich asked.

“No, I don’t regret it, but there are moments when I chafe under it,” the candidate explained. “I can’t tell you today, given the millions of dollars being spent on advertising, telephone calls, direct mail — all of it negative. I don’t know at the end of the day that I will be the frontrunner in Iowa.”

“I think it’s counter-intuitive in the next week — I mean, we have an ad that will come out in the next week where Callista and I are wishing people a Merry Christmas, and we’re talking a in totally positive way. And I just think if these guys keep this kind of negative junk, it is so discordant with the spirit of Christmas.”

But holidays haven’t always been so sacred for the Georgia Republican.

Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne, claimed that “the ex-speaker of the House told her on Mother’s Day 1999 that he wanted a divorce, after learning she had a neurological condition that could lead to MS [multiple sclerosis],” according to Akron Beacon Journal‘s Mickey Porter.

About the Author

David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.